Operation:Scare Nozomi
by AShiba1nu
Summary: Nozomi always seems fearless, doesn't she? The Muses attempt to find out if she really is.
1. Introduction

On one of the afternoons after Honoka had become the student council president, our ever dependable three third-years found themselves sitting in their clubroom with nothing to do. Because, well, they were the only ones who could attend the previously planned meeting, and everyone else had convenient emergencies resulting in the meeting being cancelled.

To prevent herself from dying out of boredom, Nico took the candid photos taken at a haunted house during their Halloween night gathering and began flipping through them.

Having sensed the sudden movement, Nozomi stopped nodding off and instead leaned over to peek at the printed photos.

"Aww… Muse looks cute when they're scared!" She drawled, pointing at the pictures. A shiver ran up both Nico and Eli's backs. Nico swore she saw Eli tense up from across the table but she made no movement towards the two. Nico herself bristled slightly but tried her best to be nonchalant, bracing herself from Nozomi's teasing lest her own candid photo showed up in the pile.

As she flipped to a new photo, the topmost one was suddenly snatched from her hands. "H-Hey! I haven't seen that one yet!" _What if it's hers-_

"Elicchi~ Elicchi looks so cute trying to put on a brave front hehe!" She waved the photo teasingly in front of Eli, a wide triumphant grin on her face.

At this, a furious blush appeared on Eli's face as she attempted to bury her face in her palms. "N-Nozomi, stop raking up the past! Halloween was more than a month ago!" Her voice was muffled as she cried out into her hands.

Nico chuckled at the spectacle across of her, _how did the rest of Muse even manage to convince Eli to go INTO the haunted house in the first place_?

Not being able to stand the two of her fellow third years any longer, Nico grabbed her belongings including the photo from Nozomi, commenting 'Get a room' drily before bursting out the clubroom door. And leaving the both of them to stare at the door, Eli's blush increasing by a tenfold.

* * *

_She can't be fearless, _was all there was on Eli's mind the whole of the following day, _there MUST be something she's afraid of._

Her sapphire eyes bore into Nozomi's back during class, as she tried to think of any single situation where her best friend was actually scared of something. If looks could kill, the furious concentration of Eli's gaze would have killed Nozomi a hundred times over by the time class ended.

This daydream continued even as the Muses finally had a replacement meeting on what their next performance would be like. Their loud chatter and occasional argument flew by Eli's ears and completely failed to bring her out of her thoughts. The Muses, on the assumption that Eli was thinking hard about their discussion topic, simply let her be. (Or did they forget she was even there…?)

Only when Nozomi excused herself to go to the washroom did she snap out of her train of thoughts. "Let's continue and update Nozomi chan about the details later-"

"Is Nozomi afraid of anything?" Eli suddenly interjected, releasing the giant boulder of a question that had been in her mind for ever.

Seven pairs of eyes snapped to her.

Conscious of the sudden attention, she repeated "Nozomi always seems fearless doesn't she? Is she afraid of anything?"

All the girls seemed to nod understandingly. They all seemed surprised by the out-of-the-blue question, save a certain redhead who looked unimpressed and a certain twin-tailed girl who smirked remembering the previous day's events.

"Are you going to try to scare her, Elichan?" Hanayo smiled shyly.

Eli replied with a determined nod.

"Then of course we'll help you!" Honoka cried out excitedly and nods of assent, murmurs of excitement and a 'whatever' went across the table.

The girls thought it was safer if they discussed the plan another day, so one by one despite their excitement, all fell silent. However, even when said girl returned to the clubroom, they'd all forgotten the ideas that they wanted to discuss during the meeting in the first place.

Operation Scare Nozomi had just begun.


	2. Chapter 1

"Honoka, what exactly are we here for?"

"That!" Honoka pointed to a shop amongst the row of small shops ahead.

The shop had curtains covering the door and behind the window display so one couldn't see the interior, save a few skeletons and ghouls hanging in the display. A large bold 'SCARY PROPS' was written on the sign hung at the door.

Half of Muse sweatdrops, "A prop shop?!"

"Why didn't we think of this Kayochin? Honoka always has the best ideas nya!" Rin leaped around Hanayo excitedly.

"Seriously a seedy prop shop? The decorations inside don't look realistic at all!" Nico grumbled as she stares at a comical ghoul hanging in the display. "Are you sure we aren't wasting our-"

Nico was cut short as Eli pulled her inside determinedly. The rest of Muse, save Nozomi followed. "Let's try anyway."

"Geez, we'll definitely waste our day here…" Maki frowned, mirroring Nico's exact sentiments.

* * *

Once inside, a gaudy looking plastic devil flew at Eli's and Nico's faces. It didn't help that the shop was dimly lit either.

Eli screamed, clinging onto Nico with a death grip.

"I thought you were all determined a second ago…" Nico sighed in exasperation.

"I didn't think it would be this d-dark!" Eli buried her face into Nico's shoulder. Behind them, Kotori patted her senior's back awkwardly.

"May I help you?" A shop attendant dressed as a vampire asked them. Clearly embarrassed by her friend's behavior, Nico asked for him to turn on the lights.

Kotori tried her best to ease the awkward tension. "Let's search for useful things around here then."

Everyone agreed and they split into pairs to thoroughly search the shop.

* * *

"Eli-chan, do you have any clue about what Nozomi-chan may be scared of?" Hanayo inquired shyly.

Racking her brains, Eli replied thoughtfully, "Well, all I know is she is afraid of losing her friends, but a tangible phobia… I'm not so sure."

Hanayo seemed somewhat disheartened. "I see. Let's keep looking then."

* * *

Rin and Honoka bounded through the shop like easily excitable children, picking up little models of ghosts and demons and skulls and waved them about in the air.

"Honoka-chan do you think Nozomi-chan will be scared of this nya?" Rin held up a ghost model for said girl to see.

"I don't know… It looks like that is meant to scare children right?" Honoka tilted her head to the side, sizing up the model.

They continued their adventure of digging for more scary looking props.

"Rin-chan, what are we looking for again?" Honoka mumbled half-heartedly as she inspected a cute decorative dinosaur."

* * *

Maki and Nico finally found quiet after they separated from the group, too much quiet. Yet both of them stubbornly kept the silence, internally raging for the other to start conversation.

"Found anything?" Nico finally blurted out, a little too harshly because of her internal conflict.

"Not yet. None of these props look scary enough!" Maki gushed, clearly surprised by Nico's outburst.

"It was definitely a terrible idea to come here in the first place. I'm sure the others are all goofing off now…"

For once, Maki seemed to agree as the corners of her lips turned up slightly. But the smile was gone as quickly as it appeared.

As they continued scanning the shelves, the previous silence began again, yet much less awkward than before.

* * *

"Umi-chan, this looks pretty scary right?" Kotori tapped Umi's shoulder from behind her.

Umi turned around and was faced with a scary looking Hannya head attached to Kotori's body. "Uwah Kotori you surprised me! That does look scary."

"Heehee' Kotori pulled the mask off her face. "Maybe we could give Nozomi a big surprise kind of scare!"

"Kotori-chan, it seems that the others are gathering back. Let's go too, shall we?"

To which Kotori replied with an enthusiastic nod.

* * *

"Did anybody find anything or come up with any ideas?" Eli asked once everyone was present.

Umi spoke up. "Kotori was thinking we could just give Nozomi a big surprise or shock."

"Oh, you mean like an ambush? That might work!"

Everyone seemed to agree, and Kotori blushed from the recognition.

"Alright first thing at school tomorrow we'll meet to discuss this okay?" A titter of excitement went across the group. In their excitement and chatter, they failed to hear the creak of the door to the shop opening.

"What are you guys doing here?" A familiar voice asked. Everyone jumped about a foot into the air.

"N-Nozomi, what are YOU doing here?" Eli asked nervously. Cue everyone's nervous laughter.

"I came to look for everyone! It was odd that no one was in the clubroom at all, then someone told me ya'll were visiting the shops around here so I came to find everyone. Heehee is there some sort of secret meeting going on right now?"

Nozomi's relieved smile was so bright that instantly everyone felt guilty to be involved in this scheme. "Why would y'all need to visit a scary décor shop anyway?"

Surprisingly, Nico was the one who spoke up, "W-We were trying to scare Eli! We, uhh we wanted to see if she'd be scared of these props like uhh, uhm a little kid!" Nico's face was ridiculously red from the exertion of making up an excuse.

"Oh" If Nozomi disbelieved her, she didn't indicate it. All seven members held their breath.

"Well alright, but have mercy on Elicchi won't you?" She winked at Nico. "I wanna come along next time! I wanna see Elicchi's scared face too!"

Nozomi didn't take any notice of the relieved looks on all of her friends' faces. Instead, she smiled as she held open the door for them. "Since we are all here, let's all walk home together."

* * *

**A/N: Hello and Merry (late) Christmas! I'm really sorry that I took so much time to update this but I've not been able to use my computer so I couldn't type this out. **

**My encyclopedia on ****petty pranks and scares**** is actually rather limited so I would be very grateful if I could get reviews on how you would want to scare Nozomi. If I do get any prompts I'll try my best to tie everything in to the story. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2

Their ingenious plan of action was set into motion a few days after. 8 members of Muse gathered in the clubroom excitedly. However, this plan didn't prove to be very meticulous.

"So Honoka, what exactly am I supposed to say?" Maki twirled a lock of her hair nervously.

"All you have to do is ask her to come to the clubroom at 4pm!" Honoka grinned from ear to ear.

Maki huffed and folded her arms across her chest. "But how?! Won't she be suspicious? And why am I the one who has to do this?'

"Maki is definitely the most cool-headed one to pull this off." Umi smiled supportively and the rest gathered to cheer for her.

_Well that did it. _Maki threw her hands up in exasperation. "Fine! I'll do this, but not because I want to help!"

They were left staring expectantly at her back as she stormed out the door and into the corridor.

* * *

Maki tried her best to calm her breathing and her red face, as she watched Nozomi's back from behind a corner.

_Alright. Everyone is depending on me to do this. If I screw this up, I'll spoil our whole plot. Keep calm, Maki. _"Well, I never wanted to do this anyway." She muttered under her breath, immediately denying her thoughts.

_Now is my chance._ Maki sprang from her perch stealthily. "Nozomi, wait a bit!"

"Eh?" Nozomi stopped in her tracks, surprised by the one who was calling her. "What's wrong, Maki-chan?"

"Uh… The others want me to tell you to come to the clubroom at 4pm… Well, because we decided to start practice a little later today." Maki fidgeted slightly, sweating nervously.

"Oh I see. That is a little late though, what's the occasion?"

"Well, some of them are rushing an assignment and are uhm in class! Y-yes, in class! We want to begin practice together today so we decided to wait for them!" Maki blurted out agitatedly.

"Alright, I'll just go take a walk till' then. You haven't seen Elicchi have you?" Maki shook her head. "I'm going to go look for her then. No naughty business in my absence, you hear?" Nozomi took what she said as the truth, and winked as she teased Maki.

Maki gulped. "Y-yup!" She forced a smile and waved her senior off, wondering since when she appeared to be so naïve.

_If this was the amount of stress she got from lying she won't ever tell a lie again._

* * *

With Nozomi out of the way, the rest of Muse worked feverishly to finish the set-up.

"The rope needs to go up higher, Rin! And stop playing around with the webs, Honoka!" Eli chided.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Umi slumped against the table, muttering as she watched the chaos about her.

Kotori hears and pulled Umi to help her adjust the cloth over the lights. "Come on, Umi-chan! Let's just try and have fun today, okay? Help me, I can't reach!"

Umi pulled at the cloth such that a lovely eerie glow fell about the room, unlike the usual bright lights.

* * *

Time passed them quickly, as they put up this cloth, adjusted another, pulled down the childish tinsel (It's not Christmas, guys!) and prepared their masks.

"Harasho! We managed to put them all together!" Eli clapped her hands with relief and glee

All their proud/anticipating smiles were worn on their faces.

Cue the ghost hanging above the door, falling to the ground with a clatter.

"Aww, no! Nico Ni has to put it up again!" Nico whines, running for the main act of their jump scare.

"That wouldn't have happened if someone else set it up!" Maki grumbled.

"Then why don't you do it?" Maki and Nico ended up having a staring contest again.

"Hey, hey we still have about half an hour. That should be enough time for both of you to set that up again!" Hanayo interjected, "I can help too!"

The argument was temporarily paused as the three of them scrambled to pin up the miniature ghost back up at the door.

Suddenly, a voice speaks up about something none of them considered before. "But what if Nozomi-chan arrives early, nya? Isn't Nozomi-chan like a ninja?"

All of them stop in their chatter and activities and fell silent. Nico facepalms. _Oh dear._


	4. Chapter 3

In the stunned silence when the Muses realized the loophole in their plan, they could not do anything but stare horrified at each other.

"We're not done! Our jump scare is not checked yet, it's not foolproof!" Kotori shrieked.

"Harasho…" Eli crossed her arms and sunk her head, deep in thought.

Nico's eye twitched. _The way everyone was panicking right now, we'll probably waste the little time we have left._ She growled exasperatedly and yanked down the hanging ghoul that Maki was desperately trying to salvage.

"Wha-WHAT?! Nico-chan, we already don't have time for this!" Maki snapped at Nico incredulously because her work was destroyed.

"Listen everybody!" Nico ignored Maki and yelled for the room to quieten," We already don't have much time, let's stop fretting over the useless things. Screw this, let's just do it!" She stuffed the ornament in her hands into the cupboard.

"She's right, nya! In times of panic, we must work together to overcome all odds!" Rin proclaimed cheerfully.

The room was so deathly silent that they could almost hear a cricket chirping. _Or wait-was that Kotori?_ Everyone stared at Rin in surprise.

"Wow! That was very well said, Rin-chan!" Hanayo smiled encouragingly and clapped.

Maki whispered to Eli, "I never knew Rin could say something like that…" Eli in reply, gave a curt nod to the underclassman leaning towards her.

"Uhm, I read that in a novel and just wanted to try saying it nya! Ehehehe…" Rin began sheepishly, tugging cutely at the hem of her skirt.

* * *

Umi began barking orders around the room, and pointed out the things they needed to do. "Eli, Rin, Nico and Kotori, you guys will be the jump scare focus. Me, Hanayo, Maki and Honoka will hide in the back to make things rattle and cause noises. Hurry and get ready, Nozomi will probably get here soon."

"Yup!" They all chirruped in unison and went about to prepare their roles.

"Aww… No fair… Why can't I do the actual scaring with Kotori-chan and the others?" Honoka gripped Umi's sleeve, whining.

"That's because Honoka-chan will probably laugh halfway. This is safer!" Umi pointed out matter-of-factly.

Hanayo pulled Honoka to a corner to prepare, good-naturedly ignoring Honoka's protests and struggling.

The room sounded of scratches of chairs being dragged, the chatter of girls, and an occasional banging as one of the girls whacked into the walls amidst the squeezing. Until at last the crescendo shrank into a silence full of anticipation.

* * *

It had been 10 minutes since the great panic and the clubroom was now drowning in silence. Except for the occasional whisper of course. The girls shifted in their places now and then uncomfortably impatient for the surprise to begin.

"Kotori-chan, later we will put on the masks and jump out, nya?" Rin leaned forward excitedly.

Kotori smiled and nodded, before putting a finger to her lips. "Mhmm!"

And the rest of Muse continued to wait for their target to appear.

* * *

Nozomi walked cheerfully towards the clubroom, completely oblivious of the storm that occurred there just minutes ago. _I wonder why Elicchi wasn't in the school gardens at all today…_ She walked on deep in thought, subconsciously humming cutie panther.

Still wrapped in her thoughts, she opened the door to the clubroom.

"AIEE!" Four figures with the faces of demons jumped in her face and the meeting table shook violently. The sudden movement and loud screams from the figures shocked her roughly from her thoughts.

"Woah." Nozomi took an involuntary step back, but said nothing more. She stared at them, and for a couple of seconds no one knew what to say.

Just when the silence became unbearable, Nozomi laughed. " You surprised me! Wow, are you guys redecorating our clubroom? Why didn't you tell me, I have tons of ideas Elicchi would love!"

A shiver of uncertainty passed all the girls, again oblivious to Nozomi. _Does she really does not know that we are plotting something, or is she just playing along with us? _Seeing that their attempt failed, the scarers took off their masks indignantly.

"Alright, I'm going to the washroom for a bit, we'll start our practice when I get back okay?" Nozomi set down her school bag. For some reason, she paused to poke at a model of a witch, before smilingly heading out.

Once they assumed Nozomi was out of earshot, Nico slammed her hands onto the table and cried out incredulously, "She doesn't know?!"

All the girls fell silent, thinking,

This time Kotori broke the silence, "I almost feel sad for her… But that means we can try to scare her again right?"

Silently agreeing with the plan they nodded, smiles full of secrecy and excitement. Seems like Operation Scare Nozomi is still in action…

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed the new chapter! I'm sorry for always updating so slowly but I've been swamped with school work and it kills my creative cells. (Excuses haha)**

**puchan87: Thanks for your prank idea I've taken note and I'll try adding it in a later chapter. The way I imagine it now in my head is really funny (to me). I'll try making it work! ^w^**


	5. Chapter 4

The initial rush of excitement had since died down, as nobody was able to come up with a good idea to terrify their 'dearest' miko, Nozomi. And the Muses quickly fell back into old patterns, lazing around in the room between practices, bored to tears.

Nico leaned back into her chair, half in a daydream. _Perhaps me and Eli are the only ones who want so bad to see Nozomi scared. I can't wait for the day I get my revenge for all her teasing and pranks._ Under the table, she played absently with a little plastic gum container.

A friend had given her the gum container a few days ago, claiming she happened to see Nico's favorite flavor in the shop. When she opened it later, a black blob of – _whatever that was_ – shot out onto her fingers, causing her to fall out of her chair in fright. (She discovered later it was a fake insect) Up until now she absolutely refused to open the box again.

_Well it was rough. _She flushed slightly. But since all the other Muses were completely absorbed in their reading/card reading/chatting/napping/staring at another member, no one paid her any heed at all.

Nico threw her head back and sighed, thinking of how she should pass the cheap prank to Nozomi without said girl suspecting anything.

She planned her dialogue, her escape route and excuses _– seriously that girl is unpredictable_ – and her eyes unexpectedly flicked up to the ceiling.

The 'décor' on the lights still hung there, along with all the other store-bought creepy 'decorations'. They all agreed to leave them there to advert suspicion. So they've been there ever since the previous week.

* * *

"Maybe I could say that it's an early valentine's present?" Nico mumbled quietly, "Nah, who even gives gum for valentines?"

The cogs groaned and turned in her head as she thought of a satisfactory plan. If she played her cards right, she would be able to at least give Nozomi a big shock.

She hid her determined smile as she strided over to where Nozomi sat.

"Nozomi, do you like gum? This is for you 'cause my friend gave me this and I uhm… I absolutely hate gum! These terrible stuff should be banned!" Nico proclaimed nonchalantly, trying to cover up her nervousness.

At this, Eli gave Nico a curious glance to which Nico replied with a subtle wink. She now had the attention of all the other Muses as they (tried to) appear engaged in their own activities.

"Ahh… Thank you! That's nice coming from you." Nozomi smiled gently and took the gum from Nico's hands.

Nozomi fumbled around with the container as she searched for the opening flap. Finally her fingers found hold and she yanked.

Nozomi squeaked as the black furry spider jumped out onto her thumb. She held out the box for a second as if to put as much distance between her and _that _thing, then brought it closer to inspect it amusedly.

_That was not the reaction I expected… Okay, Nozomi is not afraid of bugs, fine. What else is on our list?_

"So… I can keep this?" Nozomi smiled brightly, fiddling with the tiny bug. Nico replied with a careful nod, like how one would grant a little child's request.

* * *

Eli rarely saw this part of Nozomi, the side which was not the big sister of Muse, neither was it the playful accomplice of Rin that annoyed the shit out of Umi in mini unit practice.

It was the side of Nozomi she felt obliged to protect, the uncharacteristic oblivion, and her almost ridiculous child-like innocence.

Eli took the gum prank and smile innocently at Nozomi as she looked over the mechanics of the trick.

Nico took one look at Eli's lovesick face and realized Eli had completely broken her resolve to follow their plan.

_But no matter, no one else is gonna stop now._

The only important thing her attempt did was to hype up everyone even more. They all resolved to find Nozomi's weakness, all except Eli of course. _Ah well, we can definitely talk that girl around later anyway._

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone thanks for reading! This idea was contributed by puchan87. I actually feel that the overall level of humor in the story is going down; it's been getting harder to just write just aimless comedy. I'm trying my best to return the mood to before though. I've pretty much worked out how the rest of the story would go, I'm planning to tackle several more common phobias but if y'all have any comments please review! Thanks for your support!**


	6. Chapter 5 : Lily White's Plan

**Lily White's Plan**

* * *

Seven of Muses found themselves sitting in the clubroom once again (a feeling of déjà vu?) with the door looked from the inside.

"We must come up with a way to find out Nozomi's weakness as quick as possible!" Nico said matter-of-factly, slamming her hand on the table for emphasis. But, of course as Newton's law states: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, causing Nico to whimper inwardly about her bruised hand. (Of course she is too manly to admit it)

Umi protested "But we've wasted too much time on this pranking. We ought to start preparing a new song─"

"I've got an idea!" Honoka shot out of her chair. "Maybe all 8 of us would be too many to pull off a successful plan. Let's do it in our mini units then!"

"I don't really want a part in this─" A certain redhead gushed instantly.

"Then as Nozomi-chan's unit mates we should try first, nya?" Rin cried excitedly, looking to Umi for approval.

For a few seconds, Umi looked like in a big dilemma. Her soft side told her to not disappoint Rin and her friends yet her strict side told her they had to make up for dropped standards.

Apparently her softer side won this time. "A-Alright fine."

But then again, who won't give in to the precious furball called Rin?

* * *

The whole room erupted in chatter, as Umi and Rin sat in a corner trying to block out the noise and think of a prank. They thought for so long, that even Rin couldn't sit still any longer.

"Let's take a walk, Rin-chan." Rin gratefully accepted.

They padded down a side path in the school garden in easy companionship, each lost in their own ideas. Little did they know, both ideas were vastly different.

"Maybe… Nozomi-chan is afraid of heights, nya?" Rin finally broke the silence.

"Hmmm… It doesn't appear so to me though. Perhaps we could still give it a try?" Umi offered generously.

"Aww… I can't really think of anything else nya… You got anything, Umi-chan?" Rin drawled, and slumped as she walked.

"Not really… My idea would be too complicated. Let's work on your idea, Rin!"

* * *

Meanwhile, our two lovebirds sat in peaceful silence in the student council room. Eli fumbled for the right words to explain to Nozomi what the hell had been going on behind her back but none came. _I really don't want to put Muses in a bad light though… They are Nozomi's world now._

It surprised her that Nozomi made no mention or question over the previous events. It was as if she knew nothing of what they were plotting. _Huh… Maybe she isn't really such a psychic after all._

Eli decided not to spoil any other further plans their members could have.

Nozomi had fallen asleep in her seat while she was in her dilemma. Eli watched as Nozomi's head was buried into her arms, and as her back heaved gently up and down and she smiled.

* * *

"Nozomi-chaaan!" Rin burst through the student council door. The sudden loud noise startled both older girls; Eli drew a long streak on the paper she was signing and Nozomi was shocked out of her sleep, jumping straight out of her chair. "Oh hello, Eli-chan!"

"What? What happened? What's wrong? Where's the fire?" Nozomi screeched, looking about confusedly. Some of her side fringe fell in front of her face, effectively blocking her from seeing the room clearly.

"Come on, Nozomi-chan! We have mini unit practice today; we decided to go somewhere special nya!" Rin gave Nozomi no time to react, yanking her from the room by the arm.

Eli sweat dropped. She barely even had time to raise her hand for a wave.

* * *

"The Tokyo… Tower?" Nozomi glanced vertically up at the tower then at her unit mates inquisitively.

Both members nodded violently. "Uhm we thought that visiting a new place would help us write a new unit song. Yeah!"

"Uwahh… Okay!" Nozomi yawned.

They bought tickets and went up to the highest floor. Just exiting the elevator gave them an incredible view of the surrounding landscape.

"Wow…" They all exclaimed, their eyes filled with wonder.

As they approached the large window display, Rin stuck her foot out, causing Nozomi to trip. Nozomi stumbled forward, straight into the window.

Umi and Rin glanced at each other knowingly. However, Nozomi made no protest or cry out in fear despite her close proximity with the view of the long, long way own. They held their breath, waiting for Nozomi's nonexistent reaction.

"Umi, Rin! Look at that bird, it's so close!" Nozomi exclaimed like a little kid, jumping up and down in front of the glass.

Cue Rin and Umi slumping in defeat with a sweat drop expression on their faces. _Is this really the senior that knowingly brought Muse together?_

"Nozomi-chan is too formidable nya!"

"Why did we come here in the first place, Umi-chan? Rin-chan?"

At the very least, our lovely Lily White girls did spend a relaxing day out taking pictures. While the rest of Muse did hardcore practice back at school.

* * *

**A/N: I'm really sorry to everyone who has been waiting for my update. I'd been going through a slump recently cause i've been feeling sad over stuff at school so i haven't been able to write humor. Suppose this is still an excuse. But seriously though thank you for your support, that's why i've kept this story going. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!**


	7. Chapter 6 : Printemps' Plan

**Printemps' plan**

* * *

"Honoka-chan, Lily White has made their move, shouldn't we go next?" Kotori approached her other two unit mates during break a few days after the previous events.

The other two seemed to brighten up at the suggestion, and they silently agreed to meet somewhere private after class.

Our three masters of cuteness sat in a circle in the corner of the field whispering excitedly to each other, as if there were people within earshot to tattle to Nozomi. Except, there wasn't another soul around to hear them.

"Maybe we can build a caramel monster! She'll freak out at that right?" They burst out in laughter at Honoka's half-hearted idea.

Hanayo quipped, "what about we take her to a haunted house? Wouldn't that count as scaring her?"

The other two shook their heads. "We tried scaring her with monsters and ghosts before, didn't we? Nozomi-chan isn't afraid of supernatural stuff…" Kotori offered kindly.

"Maybe Honoka-chan's idea is still the best… I can't come up with any other idea." Kotori cracked a smile as Honoka let herself fall back on to the grass.

"But that doesn't really count as a scare…?" Hanayo followed Honoka's example.

"All in all, it's still a prank!"

* * *

As planned, Kotori and Hanayo met up at Honoka's house to start baking their delicious prank. After getting approval from Honoka's mum to use the kitchen, they set tow work quickly. The three scrapped the idea of a 'caramel monster', (how would they transport that to school without being seen anyway?) and decided to bake a box of caramel bonbons for her instead.

All was well; the girls diligently tried to shape and decorate the bonbons as perfectly as possible, all while trying to resist 'sampling' their handiwork. That is, until Kotori decided to smear chocolate on Honoka's cheek.

Hanayo had to watch meekly as chocolate flew back and forth between Kotori and Honoka, while classifying the whole episode as merely a 'lover's spat'. (Pity Umi wasn't there to get dragging into the fun.)

By the time they finished making one box of bonbons, Kotori and Honoka as chocolate smeared all over, even in their hair.

They didn't know how to answer to Honoka's mum about the kitchen afterward.

* * *

"Here Nozomi-chan!" Honoka offered the box to Nozomi, "We made this especially for you. They're to thank you for being such a great senior, never hesitating to help us out with our troubles or studies!"

Only Nozomi, Eli, Nico, Kotori, Hanayo and Honoka were in the clubroom today. Nico, sensing their true intentions, got up to make herself scarce, winking at the Printemps trio on her way out.

And then there were five.

Nozomi looked at the confectionary in delighted shock, "You really didn't have to, thank you!" She smiled as she opened the box. "These will last me for a while."

"Nozomi-chan please try it and tell us if it's nice!"

Kotori gave her best puppy pleading face.

"Alright, alright. Itadakimasu!"

Nozomi popped the sweet into her mouth. The chocolate was nice until it melted away to a… Caramel center?!

Nozomi cringed and twitched. _Eh… Maybe Honoka and the others forgot I hate caramel?_

Nozomi twitched again, and then forced herself to put on a smile. _Well it was their hard work after all._

"It's really good… I never knew you all were so good at baking."

Honoka, Hanayo and Kotori were shocked into silence as Nozomi continued to stuff chocolates into her mouth.

"I'm glad Nozomi-chan likes them!" Hanayo cried out, before dragging her unit mates out of the room.

Once outside, all three of them stood in awed silence. "Nozomi-senpai is such a nice person…" Hanayo was moved to tears, and the other two agreed gravely.

* * *

Omake:

Nozomi held out the box of confectionary, close to tears as well.

"Elicchi, will you finish this for me?" A hint of desperation laced her voice.

Laughing, Eli received the box as Nozomi gulped down about a litre of water.

"Uuuehh the taste of caramel is still there!"

* * *

**A/N: Hello~~ Sorry for the late update again! Here is another chapter, and I promise that the next is already underway. Actually I've been thinking of ending this series in the next chapter, because I've pretty much run this river dry. I'm still open to any suggestions though if there's any other pranks y'all want to play on our beloved Nozomi! **

**Here's me at my best ─worst─ at 2 a.m. trying to write fluffy comedy because to me Printemps =Fluff + extra cotton candy. And yes I ship 2nd years as well coz nobody should be left out of the shipping fun! Hope you enjoyed!**

**This idea was contributed by anjeal. I really tried my best to put it in though! Hope this wasn't disappointing!**


	8. Chapter 7 : BiBi's Plan

"We're the last team to carry out the mission."

Nico began matter-of-factly, as the 3 BiBi members huddled in the corner of Muses' extended clubroom.

"Judging from our modus operandi our 'mission' would be more of a comical prank…" Maki muttered under her breath, twirling her crimson locks.

"─So here's what I've got…" Maki came back into focus on Nico. Eli and Maki braced for the dramatic events to come.

* * *

"Well everything is in place!" Eli whispered into her phone to her unit mates.

Uncertainty washed over Eli as she snuck a glance at the hidden props behind the desk.

A singsong voice called out, "good afternoon, Elicchi~" Nozomi entered the Student Council room as her usual cheerful and relaxed self.

"Sorry I took too long… I went for a walk through the garden and saw two stray cats…" Eli drifted away in her thoughts, away from Nozomi's words.

Nozomi and Eli fell into step easily, stapling papers, signing proposals, filtering requests. They complimented one another. That is, until Nozomi's pile was finished. Just as Eli hoped.

"Ah, Elicchi let me help you with yours so ──"

"N-nah it's alright, I'm almost done. Why don't you take a break? This warm weather is perfect for napping!" Eli smiled widely, almost hysterically, winking at said girl. But the strained smile slipped Nozomi's attention as she stretched and yawned contentedly, "wake me when you're done", and settled at the table with her head in her arms.

Eli had a sudden urge to pat the other girl, but she stopped midway, withdrawing her hand. Instead she whispered, "thanks for your hard work" and quietly exited the room, giving her two unit mates outside a thumbs up.

* * *

Nozomi woke up to an empty room.

"Elicchi? …." Eli's bag was gone. A wave of frustration rushed over Nozomi. _She left without me? Without a note either?_

_How long did I sleep? _Nozomi glanced at the digital clock. _5:00, 9 June 2026 ── wait what?!_

"Year 2026?! But how ──"

Her frantic thoughts were cut short as two mature looking girls burst through the doors, their lively bantering stopping once they saw Nozomi.

"Who is that?" The shorter girl whispered to the taller one. The taller one seemed to come to some sort of a realization.

"Whoa Nozomi-senpai! Back to see the school? We are part of the Student Council now, would you mind giving us your autograph?" The taller one held out her notebook, eyes twinkling with excitement.

"O-of course…" Nozomi reached out a shaky hand to sign it.

The two 'Student Council members' squealed and grabbed they paperwork before running outside, wishing Nozomi good luck with her current idol activities and a happy visit.

Once they left, Nozomi grabbed the table for support. "What the heck is this? Am I dreaming? Am I foreseeing the future?" She anxiously tapped her fingers on the desk, desperately trying to collect her thoughts.

"Nozomi!" a familiar voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned excitedly to the source of that voice, the window. Oh how badly she wanted to run into said girl's arms, how badly she wanted said girl to tell her that this was just a dream, just a dream.

She never got to. Said girl was standing in the garden below the window, dressed in a surprisingly mature dress. The likes of something Nozomi had never seen Eli wear before. She wasn't looking at the window. She was looking at something further away from the window. Something out of her plane of view. Something that wasn't Nozomi.

Still in her flurry of excitement Nozomi tried to reach out to her best friend, to name this as just a nightmare ──

A similarly maturely dressed girl with a purple braid down her back reached out to her Eli. Eli gently held her hand, "have you seen all that you wanted to see?"

The purple haired girl nodded, smiling gently. "Happy birthday Nozomi." Eli's face leaned unbelievably closer to that girl, that imposter. _Did they just k-kiss?! _ Nozomi fumed from her window, but her voice would not work.

Nozomi watched in horror as Eli led that girl out of the school gate ad they soon disappeared.

Nozomi turned away from the window, unsure what to make of things. Her heart clenched. _Did she teleport into the future where there is another her? Or did she see a vision of the future? _Nozomi prayed it was the latter. _Eli l-loves me in the future?!_

Deep in her whirlwind of thoughts, she failed to notice many things. Namely, Eli and Maki re-entering the gate, the latter carrying a thick purple wig; the digital clock changing back to the original time; and that the 'mysterious' purple haired girl failed to speak the entire episode and she was at an angle where she couldn't see her face

* * *

"Nozomi? Are you ready? Let's leave together." Eli knocked on the door before entering.

"Ehh?!" Nozomi looked up dumbfounded. _Was that just my imagination? Or was that really a vision of the future?! __J_

Eli snapped her fingers in Nozomi's face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Let's go." Nozomi collected her things and they left, said girl appearing to be noticeably more cheerful, albeit a little dazed. This will be one more story to write in her diary.

Nico and Maki watched the backs of the two seniors as they left the gate. "Is she really that dense?" Nico muttered, suspicious. To which Maki replied drily, "that all-knowing character must be a ruse." She still clutched onto a purple braided wig.

* * *

**Omake:**

The next day, Eli, Nico and Maki had to treat the two first-years from the drama club to juice. Nozomi still remains her happy, oblivious self.

* * *

**A/N: Hello, I'm really sorry about the late update once again. There hasn't been that much time for me to type this out because of my national exam this year ─excuses─ but thanks for reading and supporting this story! I can't really bear to end this series though… I'll probably try to drag it out as much as I can because I'm on break now. Thanks again!**


	9. Chapter 8

Nozomi walked into a classroom full of guilty smiles one autumn morning.

"A-ah hi Nozomi!" Eli stumbled, shoving something into the cupboards behind her. The other members kinda just froze there and stared.

Outside the window, crickets chirped in their ignorance.

"Ah. Did I interrupt something? I'll just make a quick trip to the washroom then."

As she closed the door again, she could hear relieved sighs. Nozomi felt her heart sink deeper. Did her friends not want her around? _I don't know if it's just me or Muses has been leaving me out lately. Going to the prop shops for our clubroom decoration… Secret meetings all the time without inviting me…_

She shook off these thoughts, put her warmest fake smile back on again and set off. _It must be my old insecurities again… Pull yourself together Nozomi._

* * *

"Okay… She's gone!" Honoka smiled as she heard footsteps leaving at the other side of the door.

"Let's go then." Nico motioned for help as she snatched the air horn from Eli's hands. The eager girls went about climbing up to the door to attach the air horn, leaving Eli in her daze. _That expression… Nozomi?_

* * *

Rin and Honoka had their ears pressed against the door. Approaching footsteps could be heard. "Shhh… She's coming!" Honoka ran for her seat at the table, slapping the air for some reason. Rin followed with a "She's here nya!"

The set-up was perfect, really. Maki was 'teaching' Rin math, Eli and Umi were chatting about the next stage aka gibberish, Honoka had her face in her muffler pretending to sleep. Nico and Hanayo were checking info on their rival group and Kotori was- Kotori was just sitting there and staring in mid-air. What.

Meanwhile the air horn sat in a precarious spot at the corner of a shelf by the door, somehow attached to the door. It was just waiting to be pressed by the opening door.

The person at the other side of the door knocked. "I'm coming in!" Nozomi's angelic voice was muffled. Everyone snuck a glance at the door and held their breath.

**BRRRRTTTTTT. **The sound was so loud and jarring that the Muses all winced and Nozomi jumped 2 feet in the air. The air horn fell at her feet, ending the horrible sound prematurely, thank the gods.

All stared at the air horn.

Nozomi flushed immensely. "Ah s-sorry, I didn't know this was there!" She picked it up and placed it on one of the shelves.

"Ehh? N-no! This wasn't your fault at all!" Eli immediately stood up, going to rectify their mean prank.

"Will a representative of Muse come to the principal's office immediately. Thank you."

Shit.

Nozomi instantly stood up to go, but Kotori stopped her with a reassuring smile and a pat on the elbow as she left instead. There was no way Nozomi would have been able to explain what actually happened with the terrible noise.

All went on as usual after, except the fact that Kotori got a stern warning for sounding false alarms to cause panic, and Nozomi continued to wear that strange, serious expression for the rest of the day.

* * *

This idea was contributed by Minalara.

I really apologise for the ridiculously long wait. I've just finished my national exams, and i didn't really have much motivation to write this amidst the cramming. Thanks for reading and bearing with me up til now. As compensation i'll be updating the next few chapters real quick, expect the next chapter up by later today too. I've decided out how i want this to end and will probably end it by like next week.


	10. Chapter 9

The next idea of a prank came, surprisingly, from Maki. "Try this. It's not because I wanted to help or anything. I just found it… Somewhere." Maki offered the rainbow coloured bottle and then crossed her arms defensively.

Muse crowded around to read the label. Rainbow colour shampoo hair dye.

"Nico snatched it to read the instructions carefully. She'd learnt her lesson from the air horn episode, where she hadn't found out exactly how loud the thing was.

"How exactly did you get this anyway?" Kotori said with her best derpface.

Maki shrugged. "Don't know. Technology."

Once Nico satisfied herself with the label, they began to brainstorm how to execute the plan. Someone had to actually go to her house to gain access to her shampoo.

At this, Eli had enough. "I'm not gonna be part of a prank where we turn Nozomi's hair into a rainbow. Sorry." She stalked off, presumably, to find Nozomi.

This seemed to discourage the other girls, and they shrank back from the task, scared of Nozomi's prowess.

"Fine, fine! Do I have to do everything myself?" Nico cried impatiently.

"Yay! Go Nico-nyan!" Rin glomped her as said girl desperately tried to shove the cat girl off.

"Fight o dayo! We are rooting for you, comrade Nico!" Honoka cheered drowning out Umi's warning for not using too much dye.

* * *

Miraculously, Nico found Nozomi later that same day and offered to walk her home. Nozomi graciously accepted.

As they walked, Nico clutched at the dye bottle through her bag and fell deep into her thoughts on how to making this plan a success.

"… do you think so?" Nozomi nudged her, bringing her out of it.

"Huh?... Sorry?"

"Haha, out of sorts today? I was saying It feels like everyone's been avoiding me lately. Do you think I did something wrong? Or is it just me?" From the corner of her eye, Nico saw Nozomi's cheerful façade break a little.

"Woah there!" Nico grabbed Nozomi by the shoulders, stopping her in her tracks. "You're the heart of Muse, you're what keeps us together. They'll never dislike you or whatever. It's… It's not your problem, okay?"

There was a flicker of genuine gratefulness in Nozomi's eyes, then her normal mischievous cover came back.

"Wow… I'm so touched. That's surprising coming from you."

Nico decided to play along, starting along the path without waiting for Nozomi. "That better not be sarcastic."

* * *

Upon reaching Nozomi's home, Nozomi invited Nico inside. Just as Nico hoped.

As Nozomi busied herself making tea and snacks for her visitor, Nico excused herself to the bathroom and busied herself trying to recall the interior of Nozomi's bathroom.

"Come on… I've stayed over before…" Nico mumbled as she searched for Nozomi's shampoo. "Ah! There it is!"

The deed was over in a snap. She opened the shampoo cover and poured in a small amount of the dye, just enough to cause noticeable change and then replaced the bottle on the bathroom rack.

As she left the bathroom, she was greeted by melodious humming and the fragrant aroma of freshly-brewed fruit tea. Nozomi had this side to her as well, huh.

Nico spent the rest of the evening in easy companionship with Nozomi, excusing the fact that the latter kept forcing her to study.

Now all she had to do was wait for the firework and the explosions to start.

* * *

Sure enough, Nozomi came to school the next day wearing a beanie that was pulled down just above her ears. She was sporting her usual twin-tailed hairstyle… Except it looked immensely different.

Nico had to stifle an unladylike chortle when she saw how ridiculous Nozomi looked. Thankfully only the third-years were in school at the time or else there would have been a big hullabaloo by now.

Eli looked at Nico, followed her gaze to Nozomi and then glanced at Nico again. Once she put 2 and 2 together she shot a disbelieving glare at Nico and then went over to Nozomi.

"What happened?"

Nozomi's expression was akin to a lost puppy's. "It kinda just appeared overnight."

Nico started between giggles, "It… Must… Have been… The gods' doing!" Nozomi actually seemed satisfied with the explanation.

The girls entered school together, a tension-filled silence between them.

"OH MY KAMI! IS THAT NOZOMI SENPAI FROM MUSE?!"

* * *

Omake:

Nozomi's hair went back to normal in a week as it was temporary dye. And also because Eli went over to her house afterward and dumped the remains of her ruined shampoo. Also, Nozomi suspected nothing.

* * *

**A/N: **

**This idea was also contributed by Minalara.**

**Writing this reminded me of when I tried to dye my hair a few days ago for prom, but because my hair is black the colour didn't come out nicely. Lol.**


	11. Chapter 10

Nozomi sighed contentedly, stretching backwards in her chair, and let out a cat-like whine. Things seemed to be sailing smoothly for Nozomi now, especially after that rough last week.

Her hair had gone back to its usual grape purple, and, Muse didn't seem to 'leave her out' any more after the talk with Nico.

Nozomi stretched for her bag, fumbling about until she brought out a deck of newly minted cards. She laid out a spread of four, cards facing down.

She cheerful smile was soon replaced by a confused pout.

"What's wrong?" Eli, hearing a grunt, turned over to her best friend. Cerulean eyes shone with concern for Nozomi.

Oh. Nico did say something about messing with Nozomi's cards recently.

The pictures of Nozomi's cherished tarot had been replaced with children's flashcards.

"Uhhmm…" Eli fidgeted her seat. She didn't know what to say to cover up for Nico, she didn't know how to reassure her either, without revealing the plot and her involvement in it.

Eli decided to play dumb. "A-Are those new cards?" She diverted her gaze back down onto her papers.

"Yeah I bought them yesterday. Just thought of trying them now."

_Harashò. An opening._

"Uh maybe you bought the wrong kind then. You could have picked up flashcards instead of tarot cards." _Smooth._ Eli mumbled half-heartedly while trying her best not to look up.

"Or… Maybe that seedy shop owner was trying to cheat me."

_Cheat? _"Y-Yes possibly. Weren't those cards in a sealed box?"

Eli drifted off, wondering why anyone would cheat a customer of tarot cards.

Meanwhile, Nozomi frowned. Bad luck seemed to be abundant for her recently.

"So" Both girls sat stiffly at the student council table. "What do I do with these?"

Nozomi held up a reversed card depicting a potato, with the title 'The Magician', the first in her already laid-out spread.

Eli had a sudden urge to laugh. Comparing to her usual self-assured and knowing card-in-hand pose, the potato card made Nozomi look absolutely ridiculous. The still confused pout didn't help either.

Eli choked down the laugh with a cough. "They function like your cards too don't they? Why don't you continue using them?"_ Not. Nobody is going to take her readings seriously at all._

Seeing Eli's gentle smile caused a shy smile to surface on her face as well. Nozomi turned her focus back onto her 'cards'.

_The Reversed Magician, huh. It means using skills in a wrong way… Or someone orchestrating something which is of no help. How does this represent my situation now? Mmmh, I guess time will tell._

Eli peered curiously as her best friend reached into her bag once more.

The mystic pulled out… _Yet another deck of cards?! How many does she have?!_

Emerald eyes twinkled, as if able to read the blonde's thoughts. "Yes. Luckily, I have my first, most precious deck with me!"

She posed dramatically, showing off the well-loved Rider-Waite deck.

Eli really let out a chuckle this time, a loud, hearty one at Nozomi's antics. _How can anybody be this cute?_

Really, no one could beat her carefree nature and penchant for tickling the funny bones of those around her.

Eli turned back to her work for the third time that day, fully energised by Nozomi's 'positive power'. She gladly allowed the purplenette a short break for her readings now that all the drama was over.

There was no more disruptions in the student council room that day until…

* * *

Omake:

"So, how did she react? Nico came to the student council room after Nozomi decided to go for a second walk.

Eli's pointed gaze did not seem to have any effect on the raven-haired girl. "Well… She _was_ rather upset."

"Only? Nothing else? It took the great Nico a lot of pains to replace that deck y'know? And it's not just because it's Nozomi."

"Of course not. It feels as though you've forgotten what we first intended to do though."

"Hardy har. But…"

"Hmm?"

"What should we do with the actual cards she bought?"

"I WILL KEEP THEM!" (A/N: This in my head, Eli going "I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!)

Cue Nico facepalming and muttering something about Eli being more of a creep than her.

* * *

**A/N: The idea is from Minalara.**

**To be honest I didn't really know how to write this at first, but here we are! The meaning of reversed Magician is just my take on it, I mean different tarot users have their own interpretations so please don't correct me on it. XD Once again requests are open if you have more ways to be mean (/shot) to Nozomi. Don't worry I'll end this real nice so our girl gets treatment worthy of her greatness. Thanks again for reading!**


	12. Chapter 11

"Okay okay look, Honoka has thought of a good prank to fool Nozomi-chan!" Honoka exclaimed cheerfully to her fellow 7 club mates. Nozomi was conveniently late in coming to school. 

At this, Nico leaned closer, and Eli stood to leave. 

"Ehh, Eli-chan please hear me out first! We need you!"

Umi supported her. "That's right Eli-chan. Please don't be a spoilsport."

All 7 members sweatdropped. All the memories of times where Umi had told them to not play around or do something fun immediately surfaced in their minds.

Yet this seemed effective enough and the icy queen relented. Eli sighed and returned to her seat. Hanayo patted her on the back, mouthing 'there, there'. Rin gave her a thumbs up as reassurance, along with her brightest cat smile.

Honoka posed dramatically, with Kotori and Umi proudly flanking her either side. "Let's do a more pleasant prank! Christmas is coming, the season of giving!" Flowers practically appeared, floating about Honoka's head. _Wait, were Kotori and Umi throwing those flowers?!_

Maki groaned uncharacteristically. _These fools are probably going to ruin Christmas for me with their pointless shenanigans! Santa will think I'm naughty for playing tricks and won't give me any presents…_

_This doesn't seem like a particularly mean trick, right?_ With much reluctance, Eli decided to let this one slide.

"Yay! First things first. Eli-chan, what is Nozomi-chan's locker combination?" Sweat beaded on Eli's head as 6 pairs of expectant eyes turned towards her, plus 1 disinterested pair.

* * *

When there was a loud annoyed howl coming from the locker hallway the next day, all the members of Muse were sure as heck that it belonged to Nozomi.

Said girl had opened her locker to find nicely wrapped Christmas-present-looking bundles. Which brought a bright smile on her face. She reached to open the smallest one, and her smile was promptly replaced with a dangerous, unreadable face. _Her own stationary was in the bundle._

Rows of A4 book sized parcels were lined neatly in the back of locker. _My books?! _She spent the whole morning before classes opening each of the bundles just to get her stuff for school. _And she. Had wasted. The time. She planned. To flirt. With Eli._

_I did not come to school early to deal with this shit, _Nozomi fumed in her head.

Needless to say, the aura she emitted during the short trip from the lockers to the clubroom was absolutely terrifying. Fellow schoolgirls' dived left and right to get out of the way of their stomping upperclassman. Student council members cowered in fear and hid once they saw the looming dark cloud atop her head.

The Muse clubroom door flew open, its hinges protesting.

All of Muses watched, shell-shocked as brooding, fuming Nozomi shuffled in and sat at her seat. Nobody bothered to close the door.

Silence ensued.

Honoka was the first to speak. "Ehh Nozomi-chan what are you doing here? It's almost time for classes. We were just about to leave."

The darkened pools of emerald offered no answer. The blonde motioned for everyone to get out, sending a pointed look at Nico. The latter held up both arms and mouthed 'what?'.

_Oh right, this one wasn't her idea. Who could tell?_

"Well then we will head off first." Kotori offered, topaz eyes shining kindly. All the other girls sped out of the room in record time.

* * *

Eli pulled another chair up to the purplenette, and sat down while pulling her gently into a hug. It was almost as if she was handling an injured animal.

"What's wrong?" _Yeah actually I already know what's wrong but I'm trying to help._

"Something happened to the stuff in my locker. That's why I couldn't spend the morning with you." Nozomi pouted, puffing out her cheeks. She seemed to realise how childish this sounded, and blushed deeply.

"Something happened to the stuff in your locker? I know you aren't the neatest person on the block but— "

"Stop teasing me!" Nozomi tried to appear angry, but her face cracked a smile, betraying her.

Eli had to pause to pinch said girl's cheeks, "That's rich, coming from you! But you wanted to spend time with me?" Cerulean eyes shone with genuine curiosity and feeling.

Nozomi flinched and buried her head in Eli's shoulder, nodding her head. Eli laughed at her sudden change of personality.

The two sat in comfortable—albeit completely platonic—embrace, and Nozomi was already starting to forget her earlier frustration. (They almost forgot to go to class afterword.)

Eli wonders why this particular trick got to Nozomi so bad. And bless Honoka for coming up with such a trick at like 6:30 am in the morning, that let her get closer to her best friend.

* * *

**A/N: This idea came from a lovely anon~**

**Thank you for reading this far. I imagine having my stuff wrapped up individually being an extremely annoying business lol. I wanted to portray a Nozomi that is open and forgiving and a little bit oblivious about everything else, yet extremely narrow and sensitive when it comes to Eli. Let's keep going! Throw any other ideas at me! If I don't seem to be working on your idea, please don't worry! I might be saving that for the big finale~**


	13. Chapter 12

Nozomi yawned a little as she traced a finger over her proud masterpiece– a piece of lyric for Muse.

It was quiet in the clubroom today– there wasn't any practice today so most of the members rushed home, or off on their dates, or whatever it is they usually did.

Even Eli– Nozomi sighed– left in a hurry. Some emergency family business, she said. Nozomi didn't even get to offer to go with her before her shadow disappeared behind the school gate.

She reminisced the happy moments she had with her friends and second family, as she read through her lyric again.

It definitely wasn't the first time she hung around in the clubroom alone, long after school hours. She was just reluctant to go home to yet another empty room, albeit one a little more devout of warmth than this one.

It was a bittersweet piece of lyric, filled with her gratitude for the miracle that is Muse, and her thoughts about the inevitable parting.

_BRRRTT. BRRRTT._

The violent vibrations from her phone startled her out of her moping. She reached for the cell carelessly thrown on the desk.

–2 new messages from Elicchi3–

_BRRRTT._

–3 new messages from Elicchi3–

A smile crept onto Nozomi's face as she eagerly opened the messages. However–

_Eli: Nozomi, my parnets just snt me a message. My grandmama in Russia is criticlly ill._

_Eli: They want me to catch the nxet plane back to Russia. It's flying in 1 hr. They want me to go back an live there so I cn support her emotuonaly._

_Eli: I'm not coming back._

Nozomi's heart stopped. It was as if all of time had frozen as Eli's texts sank in. Nozomi couldn't believe. She didn't want to believe. Yet she could not quell the fear that began to rise inside her.

_BRRRTT._

Nozomi's fingers trembled as she reached to open the new message.

_Eli: I'm so sorry, Nozomi._

Emerald pools quivered as the self-proclaimed mystic tried to get her thoughts together. _This is not a hallucination brought on by paranoia. The mistakes in Eli's earlier messages showed that she was panicking on the other end as well._

As she regained control to move her body, Nozomi made haste to collect her belongings so she could see her best friend once more before she left.

The sudden movement freed a lone tear that ran down the side of her face, barely noticed by said girl.

Hauling up her bag, she raced for– or into– the door. Locked.

_Did the janitor lock her in by accident?!_

Nozomi struggled with the knob for several moments, as if her anguish would allow her to break it with brute force.

_Window. WINDOW. _She seemed to come to her senses, and abandoned her items to wrench the window open. After all, the room was situated on the first floor.

No luck. The window was jammed stuck, and no matter how hard she tried the panel didn't budge a centimetre. She vaguely remembered Rin accidentally lodging the hinge during a failed escape attempt.

Somewhere during her desperation, tears began to flow freely down her face. The feeling of being trapped and helpless was like fuel to her anguish.

Nozomi crouched against the window, sobbing silently. Defeated, she pulled out her cell and dialled a well-memorised number.

"Nozomi…" The blonde on the other end sounded crestfallen at hearing her sobbing.

"E-Elicchi. A-Are you really going?"

"I'm so sorry Nozomi. I'm leaving the house."

"W-When will you be able to r-return?"

The lack of answer added another weight on Nozomi's heart, and crushed any of her remaining hopes. She herself could not find any words to say.

"… I have to go. I'm really sorry, Nozomi. Good bye." Eli on the other end was so touched that tears began to well up in her eyes as well.

"Take care. I l-love you, Eli."

The last four words came out as a mere whisper, but everyone on the other end could hear it crystal clear.

Eli was about to protest when Nozomi hanged up.

The lonely cat had curled up into a ball below the window, broken, crying freely. Midnight blue sleeves were soaked with the tears of a goddess.

There was a quiet sound of a door unlocking. The trembling figure barely reacted.

"Nozomi…" A familiar voice caused the nomad to lift her head. The familiar face looked at her with a sort of pained expression.

"E-Elicchi?"

Nozomi scrambled to get up from her sitting position, but the blonde caught her in her arms as she knelt beside the still shaking girl.

The doleful face quickly replaced with a mask of concern.

"D-don't you have t-to be at the airport?"

The other girl took Nozomi's face in her hands, "I'm not going anywhere."

"S-so you're staying?"

Surprise was clearly written on the mystic's face and the tears ceased to flow. She stared intently at Eli's face in return, waiting for more bad news.

"I'm really not going anywhere. The others wanted to scare you, they've been trying the last few months or so. I'm so sorry I put you through all this." Slender fingers tried clumsily to wipe the tears off the older girl's face.

Nozomi buried her face into the dancer's chest as she felt tears coming once again– tears of relief.

"Thank god. Thank god I– hic" The same slender fingers rubbed her back in a soothing manner, and played with her hair.

It took the purplenette a few long minutes to regain her composure.

She leaned onto the blonde, relishing the comforting hug she was pulled into. The blonde continued to trace shapes on said girl's side.

"Did you really mean that?"

The sudden vibrations from Eli's voice made the nomad start from her position. She jerked her head up, nearly whacking into the origin of the voice.

"Hmm?" Nozomi's cheeks reddened, "Anyways Elicchi really knows how to ruin the mood doesn't she." She leaned up to poke Eli's cheek.

Eli pulled the other girl to face her and continued in all seriousness, "When you said you loved me."

Nozomi's gaze faltered, and shifted onto the ground.

"I did."

"Nozomi, I love you too."

The purplenette's face snapped up again, a shy smile breaking through. The threat of tears returned– now tears of happiness.

Eli found her opportunity to tease back. "For the first time since I met you, I realised you like to cry a lot," she quipped. Nozomi said nothing but smiled.

Now their gaze had a different meaning, it was the gaze of two people who were more than friends.

"Uhm, Nozomi? I'm sorry about this mean scare. But if it wasn't for me, I guess you two idiots would never have confessed."

Nico huffed and struck a confident pose, but her sneaking a concerned look at the mystic gave herself away.

At first they took her presence as no matter… Until they realised how awkward Nico looked. The reminder of another living creature within five metres of their cuddling instantly caused any romantic atmosphere to fly out the window.

Nozomi separated from Eli with a shriek, while Eli gave Nico her best 'what the hell' glare. That's when Nozomi noticed.

The rest of Muse was crowding at the door.

Nozomi was sure she could bury herself in a hole and never come out in that moment.

Nozomi's flustered face was soon turned back to Eli though. Eli, in an indignant attempt to appear as the most gentlemanly girlfriend ever, held out a hand to Nozomi, "I'm not going anywhere, so expect to go out of a lot of proper dates! The clever and dashing Elichika will sweep you off your feet!"

Nozomi blushed even more, but graciously accepted.

* * *

"I guess the scare really worked out well, finally. But in a different way huh…" Honoka mused as she peeped through the door at the two hugging seniors.

Kotori smiled approvingly, "At least Nozomi-chan is happy now. I was starting to feel bad."

At this Hanayo asked shyly, "Do you think Nico-chan intended to do something like this from the very beginning? Nozomi-chan and Eli-chan always looked like they were meant for each other after all."

They all turned to look at the mentioned girl. The petite senior was standing midway into the room, shedding a proud tear for her two friends' happiness.

"Who can tell?"

* * *

As expectant of the persistent Eli, Nozomi was dragged out the very next day for their first date in the park.

It was romantic to say the least. To say the most– well, the sky dropped shōjo manga sparkles, and white lilies lined every path they strolled on.

Eli serenaded the mystic as the sun first began to set– she had never seen the purplenette this embarrassed!

It was also just as the sun completely disappeared that the two shared their first kiss–illuminated by the beautiful, dying sun.

The purplenette had cut the blonde's singing short with the joining of the lips.

It was when Eli, being the gentleman again, saw Nozomi home that the nomad admitted,

"Thank god for Nico. Thank god for you. Maybe if you're with me, when I think of tomorrow, I can be overflowing with courage."

* * *

One more omake:

Nozomi voice, out of nowhere, had lowered into a dangerous sounding purr, "So… All of the stuff that had been going wrong… Were they all spearheaded by Nicocchi?"

_Drats I thought she forgot?!_ The thoughts of seven people at the table were exactly the same. All cringed for Nico.

"Uhm yes, but not all of them! Haha some of them came from your beloved E– mmmfh?!" Eli had slapped a hand over the panicking girl's mouth.

"Doesn't Nicocchi need some washi-washi punishment?!" While finishing her sentence Nozomi had lunged forward to grab at Nico's chest.

When the ordeal was finally over Nico couldn't help but notice Nozomi's ministrations were not as rough as usual. _What was the deal with that?_

Recovering from her 'effort', and ignoring the deadpanned looks from every single person at the table, Nozomi leaned over to whisper in Eli's ear,

"Your punishment will come tonight, dear Elicchi." On which Eli began to have cold sweat in her seat, unable to concentrate the rest of the club meeting.

* * *

**A/N: This idea was suggested by sunokasai. Thank you!**

**Two songs inspired me while I was writing this, King by Lauren Aquilina, and Anata no Aishita Sekai by Nanjō Yoshino.**

**That's it folks! I wasn't able to use all the ideas you gave me about Eli, there were many and I only had room for one. I'm sorry, don't take this personally but I felt this would bring out the situation best. Thanks for all of them though, gave me a lot to think about.**

**Once again, thanks for reading, favoriting, and following the story that celebrates Nozomi! Please review on my writing, I appreciate! Go team NozoEli!**


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